Nanogenerators & Microgenerators In The Home

Microgenerators

At its core, microgeneration is a simple idea: Instead of generating power at massive plants far from consumers, each home, business, and community would have smaller generators of its own. Utilizing a mix of wind, solar, micro hydro or other method—note that the options are mostly clean—each building would generate power to meet its own needs. Any surplus is either stored locally or sold back to the grid to be used elsewhere.

It may seem like a scary thought—taking our energy into our own hands—but an important element of the system is that a grid still exists to provide a backup. Furthermore, the capacity for a microgeneration system is potentially huge. Some studies have found small expansions of microgeneration systems could equal the capacity of as many as five new nuclear plants.

For decades, we've depended on an outdated, centralized power system that wastes power and occasionally fails to meet everyone's needs. The idea of a localized power grid, or microgrid, might just be the change we need.